Bleaching trays are used by dental professionals to bleach a person's teeth. In the current art, creating a bleaching tray that fits an individual's mouth requires dental expertise and a substantial amount of labor.
First, a custom splint must be made. Splints are created by taking an impression of the upper and lower jaws. Thereafter, a positive model is made and the splint is vacuum formed over the positive model.
Then, the custom splint becomes a bleaching tray which is filled with bleaching gel and inserted into the mouth around the teeth of the upper and lower jaw. The wearer then bites down on the bleaching tray and holds the tray in place within the mouth for several hours, during which the bleaching gel bleaches the teeth.
Problems with bleaching trays of the current art are well known. Not only is the process of forming the bleaching tray labor intensive and requiring dental expertise, but the bleaching gel often comes out of the tray and the tray does not readily hold the gel as it lacks a cavity between the tray and the teeth. To overcome the latter problem, it is customary to coat the tooth impressions on the positive model with an enamel, such as fingernail polish, in order to create a slight pocket for the bleaching gel.
There is a need for a bleaching tray which is simple to fit without requiring the complicated steps of making splints and which has pockets for the bleaching gel. Additionally, the tray should be fittable by the wearer without dental expertise. Furthermore, the tray should be comfortable to wear for the several hours required to bleach the teeth and should not overly interfere with the wearer's breathing or speech. A sizing kit should be supplied with the tray for use by the inexperienced and health care professionals that will assist in fitting the tray. Such a kit should allow for correct tray sizing, to be simple and uncomplicated, safe and not reusable, easy to use and thereby permit the tray user to avoid trying various tray sizes.